[Arc 6:The Tarnished Star]

  (Happiness. A beautiful star that shines brightly among the others.)

  "Mommy!" Saria, dressed in the plain, simple clothes of a common child, exclaimed. She sat in the grass, pointing a finger toward the constellations in the beautiful, starry night sky. "What kind of star is that? It’s so beautiful!"

  Her mother chuckled with amusement. "Oh, dear. That is called Pegasus. It represents freedom from worldly burdens."

  (The only thing I want in this fragile world... and yet...)

  "You should get some rest, kiddo," Saria's father said, walking toward Saria and his wife. He stopped beside them, shifting his focus to the stars above. "Tomorrow is the day you’ll receive your Grace. We can't have you feeling tired when it happens."

  Hearing her father’s reminder, Saria groaned in annoyance. "But I don't want to go! That nun at the church is too creepy!"

  "Saria," her mother responded, her tone gentle but firm. "You shouldn't say that. You know that without the Church and the nuns, the order of our society might fall apart."

  "I know, Mommy," Saria replied, pouting. "I just don't like the people behind the process, that's all."

  "Hmm. How about this," Saria's father offered, extending a hand to catch her attention. "If you attend the Grace at the church, Papa will buy you that toy you love so much."

  (...the hope for it is meaningless...)

  "Really?!" Saria asked excitedly.

  "Of course. As long as you attend the Grace ceremony, that is."

  Upon hearing her father’s offer, Saria immediately accepted. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him back toward their home. Her mother only chuckled from behind, slowly following them.

  In that moment, Saria wore a wide grin—the expression of a child filled with pure, innocent excitement.

  (For I am nothing more than a vessel for 'Fate'.)

  In the present, Saria stood by the window in her casual clothes, looking out at the campus for the last time. Her mind drifted elsewhere, lost in childhood memories that she had long ago forgotten. Her room was much cleaner than it had ever been; her bed was stripped bare, and her closet stood empty, with no clothes or campus uniforms hanging inside.

  A few knocks at her door snapped Saria back to reality. When she answered, she found Hana waiting for her outside.

  "Have you finished packing your things, Saria?" Hana asked.

  Saria nodded in response.

  "Hmm. Want me to help you carry them out?" Hana offered, her gaze shifting toward the boxes inside. "That's quite a lot for you to handle by yourself."

  "Oh, s-sure, Miss Hana!" Saria exclaimed, forcing a smile as she turned toward the boxes. "Thanks for helping out!"

  Noticing the shift in Saria’s behavior, a look of worry crossed Hana's face. "Is it because you have to return to the Royal Church?"

  Hearing that, Saria froze. The pause didn't last long, however, as she looked down at the floor, kneeling to grab a box. "What are you talking about, Miss Hana? It's not like I don't want to go back or anything."

  Hana responded with a sigh. "Wait here. I'll have to call someone," she said, walking away from Saria's room.

  "But what about this box?" Saria asked, her voice barely audible.

  "You can ask Arvain to help you, dear!" Hana replied, disappearing from sight and leaving Saria standing there in confusion.

  Now outside the gates of the Verlyn Campus, where a fancy carriage waited, Saria wiped the sweat from her brow with her arm. She finally exhaled as she set her last box on the ground.

  "T-thanks, Arvain, for helping me out," Saria said, her voice laced with nervous gratitude toward Arvain, who set the box down beside her.

  "No problem. It’s my job to help a beautiful lady like you," Arvain said, pointing a thumb toward himself with his usual arrogance. "Though... are you okay?"

  "What do you mean?" Saria asked, confused by his sudden shift in tone.

  "I mean, you seem more nervous than usual," Arvain replied, his worry lingering. "Is it because you and the group are about to go to your own separate ways?"

  Hearing his question, Saria fell into a deep silence, looking down at the ground in regret.

  Arvain, seeing Saria’s mood darken, let out a light sigh. "Well, the future is unpredictable. I doubt this 'separation' thing will be as final as you think." Just then, footsteps echoed from the gate, growing louder as someone approached. "Speaking of separation... is your 'calling' session over, Mom?" It was Hana, stopping in front of them.

  "Of course, dear," Hana replied with a gentle smile, though her focus was entirely on Saria. "Now, let us depart. We can't keep a certain someone waiting, you know?"

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  (A certain someone..? Wait... why do I have a mixed feeling about this?) Saria thought.

  As the carriage moved away from Verlyn, Saria noticed something unusual. The path they were taking was far different from the one she remembered. She was the first to spoke up about it.

  "Uhm... Miss Hana?" Saria began, watching the green fields pass by through the window. "Where are we going, exactly? This isn't the path back to the Royal Church."

  Hana responded with a chuckle. "You’ll know soon enough."

  They arrived at the center of a vast green field where a lone house stood. Hana opened the carriage door and stepped out, walking toward the cottage. Saria watched her through the window, curious as to why such a house existed out here in the middle of nowhere.

  "Saria, come on!" Hana’s voice boomed.

  "C-coming..!" Saria replied nervously, climbing out of the carriage. Arvain stayed inside, merely snorting in amusement.

  As they stopped in front of the house, Hana knocked a few times. The door was opened by Mary, dressed in simple, casual clothes.

  "Well, at least it’s not Yuno or Ordeus," Mary said casually.

  Hana responded with a nervous chuckle, knowing exactly what Mary meant. "Anyway, did you get my call?"

  "Yeah. You said you wanted to come over. Is there a specific reason?" Mary asked, curious.

  "Well..." As Hana tilted her head toward Saria, Mary’s gaze followed.

  "Ah, I see," Mary said, extending her hand into the house in a gesture of invitation. "Come in."

  Hana entered, followed by Mary and a trembling Saria. The three sat down on the couch, though Saria’s anxiety only escalated.

  "Where’s Grey?" Hana asked, beginning the conversation. "I didn't see him anywhere."

  "Oh, he, Mira, and Erika went out to buy groceries," Mary answered.

  "Really? Does it take three people to buy groceries?"

  "Who knows?" Mary shrugged off the question.

  In that moment, footsteps echoed from the stairs nearby. Saria’s focus shifted instantly toward the sound as she stood up. Hana and Mary simply exchanged relieved smiles, staying seated so as not to interrupt the moment.

  Saria’s eyes widened in profound shock as a figure appeared—one she never thought she would meet again so soon.

  "Ca...rol..?"

  Hearing Saria spoke of her name, Carol, whose hair had grown long and messy, and who was still clad in her pajamas, chuckled in amusement. "Are you trying to set me up, Aunt Mary?" she asked, not yet bothering to look back at Saria.

  "Of course I'm not. I just want you to get some fresh air for a while," Mary explained, closing her eyes. "In fact, I'm sure Grey wouldn't mind if you went adventuring a little. We can't let an 'anomaly' like you rot in her room reading novels all night like some kind of neet."

  Mary’s statement struck Carol like an arrow to the heart, a painful truth that made her flinch. Despite that, Carol snorted with genuine amusement, a nonchalant smile playing on her lips. "Fine. Not like I have anything better to do anyway," she said, heading back up the stairs to get ready in her room.

  "I-is this what you meant by calling someone, Miss Hana?" Saria demanded, looking for an answer.

  "Something like that. I just noticed that you didn't want to return to the Royal Church," Hana explained, looking down at the floor. "So I thought to myself: if I brought Carol along, the situation around you might finally change."

  "I-is that supposed to be some kind of riddle, Miss Hana?"

  Hana chuckled, winking directly at Saria. "Maybe."

  In her room, Carol searched for the right clothes within her closet, pushing other garments aside. When her attention landed on a white, long-sleeved shirt and a dark, long skirt, she decided on them for her casual outfit.

  After a few preparations, where she packing her essential clothes and items into her backpack as well securing a small pouch around her waist, she noticed a dark figure in the mirror within her reflection.

  "Are you trying to warn me about something, Irene?" Carol asked, a smile playing on her face.

  Hearing her name called, the dark figure morphed into its true form, revealing the same features as Carol, with the notable exceptions of shock-white hair and piercing red eyes.

  "Yeah. You need to be careful, especially since you’re literally heading into Church territory," Irene said, clearly nervous about Carol’s safety.

  "You’re right. But it’s also an opportunity," Carol said. She took her wand from the table, tucked it into her waist pouch, and refocused on the mirror.

  "An opportunity?" Irene asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

  Carol nodded in response. "In the past, Saria said that Pope Zen was the one who sent her to the Verlyn Campus. Combined with Miss Hana’s talk about how the Church is now corrupted by politics, it’s far too tempting for me not to investigate."

  Hearing Carol’s reasoning, Irene let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. "I suppose you just want to play some kind of detective roleplay from your novels, don't you?"

  Carol froze in place at the remark.

  Watching Carol’s reaction, Irene snorted in pure amusement. "Well, just be careful out there. Remember, our power is mostly sealed, so we can't use it to heal our wounds like before."

  "I know. Although we can only use a portion of our Dark Ender, that should be more than enough to survive," Carol replied with utmost determination.

  "I hope so," Irene said, closing her eyes before disappearing from the mirror, leaving only Carol’s reflection behind.

  As Carol shouldered her backpack and stepped out of her room, she descended the stairs. She cast a brief, hesitant glance toward Saria before quickly averting her eyes. Even now, Carol was haunted by guilt for her past actions, especially the pain she had caused her friends. Yet...

  "Carol," Mary began, her tone cold and sharp as she walked toward her niece. "Didn't you say you wanted to move forward without looking back?"

  "Huh?" As soon as Carol turned toward her aunt, Mary flicked her forehead with a firm snap of her fingers. Carol let out a small groan, a red mark blooming on her skin.

  "Be a mature girl and apologize, dear. If it happened, it’s already in the past," Mary stated with a knowing smile.

  Hearing those words, Carol’s eyes widened in realization. She shifted her focus toward Saria, who stood just a few feet away.

  "Uhm... Saria? I—"

  Before Carol could finish, Saria lunged forward, throwing her arms around Carol in a desperate hug. Her emotions finally spilled over as messy tears streaked down her cheeks.

  "I'm so glad you're finally back, Carol..." Saria sobbed, tightening her hold.

  Carol was momentarily stunned by her friend’s sudden intensity. At first, she hesitated, her hands hovering in the air. But after a moment, she finally returned the embrace, gently patting Saria’s back.

  "Me too, Saria. Me too," Carol stated, a smile spreading across her face as if a massive burden had finally been lifted from her soul.